The paper in Nature highlights that simultaneous efforts to reduce human impacts on both land and sea have contributed to less coral loss during a marine heatwave in Hawaii.
These combined strategies also support the persistence of coral reefs after the heatwave.
The study demonstrates the effectiveness of managing both land and sea activities to safeguard coral reefs.
Coral reef ecosystems face various human impacts, including land-based disturbances like wastewater pollution and sea-based impacts such as overfishing.
Human impacts on Coral Reef
Coral health is affected by prolonged warm ocean temperatures, known as marine heatwaves, which lead to coral bleaching and death.
The study was conducted by Jamison Gove and colleagues from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Honolulu, Hawaii.
The study used a unique 20-year time series (2003-2019) of land-sea human impacts in Hawaii.
An unprecedented marine heatwave occurred in 2015, causing ocean temperatures to rise 2.2 degrees Celsius above normal.
The analyzed human impacts included urban runoff, wastewater pollution, and fishing restrictions.
Over the study period, some areas experienced increased coral reef cover, while others saw decreases or remained stable.
Reefs with mitigated land and sea human impacts displayed higher coral cover before and during the heatwave.
Reefs with fewer human impacts showed increased reef-builder cover (essential coral types) four years after the heatwave.
More herbivorous fishes and reduced exposure to land-based impacts were associated with improved reef-builder cover.
The authors used scenarios to model the impact of reduced human impacts on reefs.
Reductions in both land- and sea-based human impacts were projected to result in a three- to sixfold greater probability of high reef-builder cover four years after a disturbance.
The study's results emphasize the potential of integrated land-sea management for coastal ocean conservation.
Such strategies offer coral reefs a better chance to persist in the changing climate.
COMMENTS